Josh Brown Publicly Apologizes To John Mara And Giants, But Not His Ex-Wife
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Josh Brown has broken his silence, and the kicker who's currently banned from football for abusing his ex-wife for years is sorry ... to his football team.
Brown, who's currently on the commissioner's exempt list following SNY's reporting of further details on his known incidents of domestic abuse, issued a statement through ESPN's Adam Schefter. It is below:
"I am sorry that my past has called into question the character or integrity of The New York Giants, Mr. [John] Mara or any of those who have supported me along the way. I have taken measures to get help so that I may be the voice of change, not a statistic. It is important to share that I never struck my wife, and never would. Abuse takes many forms, and is not a gray area. Through the past several years I have worked to identify and rectify my own behaviors. The road to rehabilitation is a journey and a constant modification of a way of life. My journey will continue forever as a person determined to leave a positive legacy and I embrace the opportunities to show and speak about what has helped me to be that man. In the interim, I am cooperating with the Giants and the NFL. Thank you to everyone that has supported me, I will not let you down."
-Josh Brown
In the statement, Brown apologized to his football team and to John Mara, who is worth $500 million and was born into ownership of a franchise that is now valued at $3.1 billion. (The Giants were reported to be discussing the future of Brown with the franchise on Tuesday, so this statement could be seen as a plea from the player to remain gainfully employed for the foreseeable future.)
In the statement, Brown did not apologize to his ex-wife, who was the target of his abuse.
Brown did manage to try to -- to borrow a phrase from Mara -- lessen the extent of his abuse, stating that he never struck his wife. It is a weak work-around to the fact that he admitted to "physically" being a "repulsive man" who would "use and abuse women starting at the age of 7."
"I objectified women and never really worried about the pain and hurt I caused them," he wrote in a letter to friends in 2014. "Because I never handled these underlying issues I became an abuser and hurt Molly physically, emotionally and verbally. I viewed myself as God basically and she was my slave."
All of this came directly from Brown himself, who now deemed it "important" to use 14 words of his 165-word statement to tell you that he never struck his wife. He followed that claim by stating that there is no "gray area" in abuse ... but also, don't forget, he did not strike his wife. As far as Brown is concerned, that is important for you to remember. (Please, never mind the more than 20 physical incidents alleged by his ex-wife, including some incidents when she was pregnant. The self-admitted spousal abuser wants to make it clear that he never struck her, nor would he ever.)
(Update: Later on Tuesday, after Brown had been released from the Giants, he issued another statement. This one was largely the same message but did not include a denial of ever striking his wife.)
He's sorry that the integrity of the millionaire owner of his billion-dollar franchise has been called into question. He thanks you for your support.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
